


Nepenthe

by homoamphibians



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Adopted Sibling Relationship, Angst and Feels, Bianca deserved better, Book 3: The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson), Cute Nico, Dead Bianca di Angelo, F/F, Family Dynamics, Gay Nico di Angelo, Gen, Hunters of Artemis (Percy Jackson), Lesbian Character, Lotus Hotel and Casino, MC is basically Nico's sister, Nico di Angelo is a Good Friend, Nico is not alone, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Unrequited Love, gay lesbian solidarity
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:13:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24268000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/homoamphibians/pseuds/homoamphibians
Summary: Maisie Barrett had always been carted off from place to place, never being able to find a safe place. Her guardian tried to protect her as much as possible, but that didn't seem to work out too well.She finds herself dumped at the Lotus Hotel and ends up meeting a girl there that she never wants to be apart from. The girl feels the same way, so they don't leave each other's company.They end up bouncing from the hotel to a school to a camp that's specifically meant for people like them. It's a dangerous journey but they have each other and that's what matters.Then her Bianca leaves and Maisie tries to figure out who she is and where she belongs.
Relationships: Bianca di Angelo/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> italics is past  
> normal is present

_"Mom? I'm scared," the girl clung to the oldest person nearest her for dear life._

_The teenager rolled her eyes before crouching next to the child, "Don't call me that. I'm not your mother, your mother is off somewhere pretending you don't exist."_

_"I know. I'm scared Mom," Maisie repeated._

_Lou's expression softened, "Don't be scared. These are the same type of dudes we fought last week, you know? We totally took them down, plus you've got your knife. They won't hurt you."_

_"I don't like them," she muttered, crossing her arms._

_Lou nodded, "I know. I'll kill them while you hide, okay?"_

_The 8 year old threw herself behind a dumpster hurriedly, trying to take up as little space as possible._

_She didn't want the monsters to find her after all, and Lou would be angry with her if the monsters did so. An angry Lou was much scarier than the monsters._

_The sound of fighting before a terrible scream that stopped abruptly hit her ears. This was strange and she didn't like it._

_The fighting was over in only a couple minutes, she could hear the sound of metal hitting the ground._

_"You're safe now. I killed the dudes, come on out girlie," the voice of Lou called out._

_Maisie wrinkled her nose. That sounded like Lou but she had never called Maisie girlie before. Lou called her Mai if she referred to her by a name, which wasn't often as it was just the two of them travelling together._

_She grabbed her knife and flicked it open before preparing to step out._

_Stepping out confirmed her suspicion that Lou was not the one speaking._ _Instead, it was one of those weird looking creatures pretending to be her._

_Lou was being held by one of the other ones, and was struggling furiously._

_Maisie stepped out fully and lunged at the closest monster, piercing it._

_She wasn't really a fan of hurting things but Lou had reassured her that those creatures weren't actually people so they didn't feel things like pain._

_It disintegrated quickly so she lunged for the other one._

_It moved back, throwing Lou to the ground so it could fight better._

_Before Maisie could realize what was happening, it was attacking her._

_She scrambled back, not sure how exactly to stop it from attacking her so she could attack it._

_Lou had recovered and had grabbed her blades at this point._

_The monster didn't last long as Lou had removed its head._

_Maisie looked down at the minor cuts on her legs but ignored them to go check out how Lou was doing._

_Bruises and cuts dotted the older girl's skin but the bigger issue was the fact that blood was dripping down her neck._

_"You're bleeding," she informed Lou._

_Lou rolled her eyes, "Thanks Mai. I realized that. Good job by the way."_

_"Is there somewhere we can go so you stop bleeding?" The younger one asked, her brow scrunching up in concern._

_"I'm okay."_

_Maisie nodded, "Okay."_

_"Let's keep moving," Lou slung an arm around her._

_Maisie smiled, "Yeah and next time I won't be hiding and letting you get your butt kicked."_

_"Should I be insulted?" Lou raised an eyebrow._

_She shook her head, "Nah. I'm just gonna help you out with the dudes next time."_

_"Good. We'll work better as a team," Lou grinned._

_They then both headed out, in search for a place where they get shelter for the night._

\\\

"You're up early," Lou remarked.

The thirteen year old smiled slightly, not turning to look back at her companion, "When am I not, Mom?"

"That's true. You usually are the crazy chick that gets up right before the sunrises," she sat next to Maisie.

Maisie continued looking over at the sunrise, "There's something peaceful about sunrises. Makes it seem like we don't get in fights everyday."

"Well no fights today, I can promise that," Lou said in a slightly weird tone.

She looked over at the older one, "What's wrong?"

No answer.

A silence fell over the duo.

Maisie could feel her heart beat accelerate even more than the usual burst of energy the sunrise gave her.

Something was wrong. The 17 year old never had sounded so weird throughout all of their years of travelling together. And Lou usually addressed a problem rather bluntly, no longer hiding the truth from Maisie.

She wasn't a little kid anymore and sure Lou acted like a mother but usually she didn't withhold the truth of reality from Maisie.

She repeated her question, "What's wrong?"

"I'm going on a small trip, so you have to stay at a hotel by yourself," Lou didn't make eye contact.

That was not what she had expected. It was less of a big deal then she had thought.

Lou had been acting so bothered, she had almost expected an announcement that Lou was leaving forever. But a short trip was nothing.

Maisie raised an eyebrow, "Is that all? You can afford a hotel?"

"I have connections. You know how there's monsters after us all the time? Well monster fighters like us get to stay at the Hotel Lotus as long as we want," The older one explained.

She nodded. It made sense.

"How long?"

"Maybe a month tops. I'll be back for you," Lou pulled her into a hug.

Maisie hugged her back, "I'm not letting you leave until you promise you'll come back. We work better as a team."

"I promise on my life that you won't stay in the Hotel forever," Lou smiled, still not meeting her eyes.

She rolled her eyes, "A month tops?"

"A month tops." Lou repeated.


	2. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> time jump

_"Come on in! All the way inside, young lady," The man ushered her further into the hotel._

_Her shoulders were tense and her hand rested on top of her dagger, preparing to use it if she had to._

_This whole place seemed off._ _It just wasn't right. Not natural. Warped somehow. She didn't like it._

_That could be the monster sensors firing off again like Lou always joked. But that seemed unlikely._

_It was probably safe. Maisie needed to chill out and deal with the fact she was staying here without Lou._

_That was it, wasn't it?_

_She missed Lou._

_Who could blame her? This was her first time without her mom, after all. It would make sense that the situation would feel unusual._

_It was fine. It was normal. It was natural and safe._

_There was nothing wrong with the Hotel Lotus, she was just freaking out for no reason._

_She stepped into the hotel, looking around at all the artificial lights. They flickered at her, taunting her with every ounce of their being. She glared at them for a moment before blinking in surprise at her surroundings._

_There was so much to see. Everything was bright. Not a good bright, not one that was of the sun but one that strained her eyes in a way that only electricity could._

_Once the doors closed, every ounce of the outside world was gone. The air was fake, the lights were fake, everything about this was fake._

_She hated how it felt._

_The unnatural air made her skin itch in complaint to it._

_It would be fine._

_She would only be here for a month. It was okay. Lou would come get her, she knew it._

_Lou had promised she would be back._

_Which meant Maisie just had to get used to being here and what adventures awaited her in this stuffy, unsettling building._

_It had an unusual smell, it was sickeningly sweet, similar to the spell of monsters but without the odious undertone that typically hung around that stench._

_The man at the front desk, she thought the title was concierge or something but she wasn't exactly sure, had a smile that matched the man who had welcomed her inside._

_It was almost threatening how fake the smile appeared._

_In fact, if she had to describe the smile, she would describe it as the perfect match for the weird smell inside the Hotel Lotus._

_Everything seemed off._

_She had never been to a hotel before really so perhaps this was just how all hotels functioned in some capacity. With fake politeness that could be twisted into murderous intent at any point._

_Businesses were weird._

_Human civilization was weird, she missed being on the streets, watching the sunrise with Lou._

_"Maisie Barrett, I presume? We have an all expenses paid room available for you from your guardian," the man announced._

_She stared at him for a moment, it was weird that he knew her name._

_This whole thing was weird._

_Lou had most likely described her to the person so that a random kid couldn't come in and claim her room. That was it. That made sense._

_What else could it be?_

_She nodded, "That's me."_

_"Perfect. I'll have Gordon show you to your room miss Barrett," he grinned a wide grin, that sent a shiver down her spine and activated her urge to run out of here and never return._

_If she took off now, she could find Lou, or at least find someplace to stay that felt a bit safer._

_Sure she wasn't safe anywhere, but she had her dagger, the shiny bronze one Lou had given to her, and that could at least be used against the abominations they often ran into. She couldn't exactly stab these men in this hotel, she wasn't great with social rules but she figured stabbing dudes was not considered polite._

_The walls seemed to close in on her as she followed the man to her room. The whole place seemed to be shrinking, moving closer and closer to her, trapping her inside._

_She had missed her opportunity._

_Now that Maisie was properly inside the Hotel Lotus, she doubted she would ever be able to leave._

_Hopefully, Lou would come in and save her._

_Because if that didn't happen, she was a gone girl._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again to clarify, chapters written in italics signify the past whereas chapters written normally signify the present of the story


	3. 2

There was one thing Maisie knew without any uncertainty and that was she did not like the cold but it was better than being inside. 

Winter had arrived, meaning there was very little time for sunlight and it was mostly cold. 

But it was still refreshing being outside, even if it was snowing. 

She had spent so long in that cursed hotel that even a snowstorm at a military school no one had wanted her to go to was exciting. 

Spring would be here soon enough and when that happened, there was no way she was staying at this school any longer. She was leaving Westover and taking her friends with her. They would not be stuck at a military school for all time, she would make sure of that. 

She would not stay somewhere any longer, she would travel, find Lou, and protect her newfound family from any monsters. Her dagger was still sharpened for that very reason. No one knew that she had a dagger, it was important to hide weapons in this military school because they would have taken it away. Bianca didn't even know about the daggers, or the monsters, or really about Lou. And that was the girl who Maisie would trust with anything, yet something about her past seemed to beg to not be revealed.

And so she kept quiet, kept a lie that she had never hurt any creature before. It was necessary but it still hurt. 

It hurt because her heart gave her a bad feeling about this school but she couldn't tell anyone what was bothering her because for her claim to be seen as valid, her past would have to be revealed. And having people find out that she lied about some things would hurt them a lot, which in turn, would hurt her. 

She was practically certain that there was one of those monsters in Westover. It was a mix of a gut feeling and the hair standing up on the back of her neck whenever a certain person was in the room. She had yet to figure out who the monster was but every time she had a bad feeling, she quickly took her new family away from the scenario. 

But the bad feeling was starting to grow, she felt it practically all the time. 

Which was another reason she was outside, watching the snowflakes fall. 

She did not like snow. At all. But these? These were different. These flakes were beautiful, pure, fragile, and the way they fell signified a sort of grace that reminded her of her best friend. 

She could feel a hand grab hers and start pulling. 

"Maisie, we need to go inside. It's time for the dance," came the calming but slightly annoyed voice of Bianca. 

Speak of the devil, or rather the angel in this case. 

Bianca Di Angelo was the prettiest girl to ever exist. Her long black hair was pushed away from her ivory colored face that was the definition of perfection. Her green cap covered her face, leaving only her dark brown doe eyes visible with a look of concern in her eyes. A snowflake landed on her nose and she scrunched it up in a way that made Maisie's cheeks flush with something that wasn't because of the cold.

Overall, she was the loveliest being that Maisie had ever seen that made her heart flutter with something she couldn't exactly identify. And Bianca had the bonus of being her best friend, really her only friend besides Nico, who was Bianca's younger brother, and Lou, who Maisie hadn't seen in such a long time that it felt like a full lifetime. 

Maisie rolled her eyes, "I don't want to go watch a whole bunch of our classmates go wild."

"Yeah! I think the whole thing is stupid," Nico chimed in.

She shot him a thankful glance. 

He winked at her, looking between the snow and his sister. 

She shook her head slightly. 

He visibly deflated. 

She had ruined his dreams of dumping snow on his sister, which most likely meant that when she least expected it he would dump snow on her. Fair was fair after all, and stopping Nico made you an enemy of his. He didn't like people who stood in his way, he never had. He was a stubborn little ankle biter,

Bianca sighed, "You both are coming inside. Now."

"I don't want to! This whole thing is dumb," Nico crossed his arms. 

She totally agreed with that statement. 

The idea of hanging around their classmates, who she could not stand or understand really, even more than usual in a wrecking havoc sort of way held no interest for her. 

But if Bianca wanted her to go to the dance, she would. 

Maybe they could even dance together. 

That would be nice, she would love that. 

To wrap an arm around her best friend's waist and hold her tight and get lost in her beauty and just be close with the one she loved. 

Her heart was fluttering again, in the way that it often did. 

It was mildly concerning how often her heart sped up and her breath caught in her throat. 

Maybe she had some sort of illness. 

Friends could dance with each other, right? Friends could love each other a lot and it meant nothing right? 

The fact that her heart longed to be with this girl forever meant absolutely nothing. 

They were friends, just friends, girls couldn't even be with other girls. 

And it was okay for friends to love each other, to hold each other, to dance with each other. 

She definitely wanted that dance now. 

Which meant she had some convincing to do. 

Maisie placed a hand on Nico's shoulder, "Come on, kitten. Let's go inside, get some punch, and you can teach me about the new expansion you got." 

"I'm not a kitten, I'm 10 years old Mai. I'm all grown up but fine, I'll teach you about the Africanus Extreme deck," he stuck his tongue out at her. 

She grinned, wrapping an arm around on him, "All grown up huh? Are you one of those cool cat types now?"

"Yup! I'm a cool cat now," he cuddled into her side. 

Bianca watched them with a smile, that the two of them immediately returned. 

Maisie raised an eyebrow, "What am I now that my kitten is all grown up?"

"You're a lion," Nico informed her. 

She tilted her head slightly, "Wouldn't I be a lioness?" 

"Not with that hair," he grinned. 

She stuck her tongue out at him, "My mane is glorious, thank you very much." 

"Sure. Whatever you say, oh mighty king of the jungle," Nico stuck his tongue out in return. 

Bianca reached over and ruffled her hair, "Come along Mister Cool Cat and Lion." 

"Lead the way and I'll follow," Maisie remarked, leaning into her hand. 

And she would. 

She would follow Bianca Di Angelo to the ends of the earth. 

And that was a promise from the deepest part of her heart. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please leave a comment, I love hearing from y'all
> 
> also chapters will get longer since we're getting into the actual story now


	4. 3

_The second thing she disliked the most about the Hotel Lotus, besides the filtered air and artificial lights, was the copious amount of people flooding in at all times._

_There was always people entering, but no one ever left._

_It was unusual._

_Not to mention it had no windows whatsoever._

_The whole place felt off, artificial, wrong, and the more she noticed, the more it freaked her out._

_It could be that she wasn't used to staying inside, which was definitely a factor. Before this, she had lived on the streets for as long as she could remember. It was her and Mom against the world, no matter what._

_But Lou was gone, gone for at least a month._

_It had felt like a month had already passed in the few hours she was there, which didn't make any sense, but that's what it had felt like._

_She didn't know how to describe what she felt but it was almost as if she could feel the sun rise. The sensation felt the same as it did when she woke up and welcomed in the dawn. It just kept on happening, a lot during the few hours she was here._

_Her body was probably broken due to being away from nature. She missed nature._

_If it wasn't for her promise to Lou, she would have broken out of here and never come back._

_She didn't know exactly what was happening here but it was cursed._

_The Hotel Lotus was the most cursed place in existence. Everything in it was cursed somehow, even the people._

_She just couldn't figure out how it was cursed._

_The whole aura of the place made her want to never leave her room there again. She didn't want to see new faces mixed with the old, she didn't want to deal with the fact that no one could ever leave, that she could probably not even leave._

_Maybe she should just try to leave, just so she could see if people could._

_But no. She had promised Lou she would stay and wait for her._

_And it was boring being in her room all the time._

_So she went to the area labelled "amusement arcade" with the crowds of kids surrounding it, which meant it at least had to be somewhat entertaining. Not as entertaining as nature or talking to Lou or running, but it had amusement in the title so it surely would grant her some of that._

_It was interesting._

_There were card games being played, a few table tennis tables set up, a booth labelled "Mythomagic" whatever that meant, skee-ball, and a pinball machine with real fairy lights that sparkled every time a flipper moved._

_Not to mention the machines that seemed totally sci-fi. They had miniature movies on a screen that were controlled by a person moving a stick around or pressing a button. It was hard not to be entranced by the little square that bounced between two rectangles. The kids playing it obviously felt the same way, because they were so focused on it._

_Maisie found it hard to focus._

_Everything was so loud, artificial lights flashed everywhere, it was all so bright, but not in a good way._

_It just overwhelmed her._

_Instead of taking part in it, she chose to lean against a wall and just watch. Maybe later she would join in, but it was too chaotic. She didn't understand this, it was entertaining sure but just the idea that someone could be so invested in a form of entertainment that they didn't pay any attention to anything else didn't make sense to her. What about monsters? How did they fight if they weren't preparing to get attacked? Weren't these people all supposed to be monster hunters like her?_

_Why did they all seem so different from her then?_

_How could they all be so relaxed?_

_Why weren't they normal?_

_Why wasn't she like them?_

_Annoyed by all the confusion she felt, she turned, leaving the arcade._

_A kid shorter than her, bumped into her, dropping cards all over the floor._

_She bent down to help pick them up._

_"Sorry! Bianca always says I need to watch where I'm going but I always forget to," the kid mumbled._

_He was a short kid, messy black hair covering most of his face. His skin was very pale, a few faint freckles upon it._

_She handed him the cards, "It's okay kid, I wasn't paying attention either. You're all good."_

_"It's hard to pay attention here! Everything is so aces here! Do you like Mythomagic?" He tilted his head a bit, a grin on his face._

_The tone shift was very obvious, but she appreciated it. It was nice seeing people happy, not shy or awkward. She was already feeling some sort of draw to this child. She wanted to see him happy, to see him excited. To see his eyes light up in the cute way they did. To protect him from anything that made his smile go away._

_Maybe this was how Lou felt._

_She raised an eyebrow, "I don't know what that is."_

_"You don't?" He gasped._

_She shook her head, a small smile sliding on her face from how dramatic he was._

_"I'll teach you! It's so aces. There's all these gods and monsters and stuff and you have to fight monsters and like you get different weapons and abilities and it's so swell!" He rambled._

_She grinned, "Fighting monsters? I'm in."_

_This might be more her speed, after all, she had been fighting monsters almost as long as this kid had been alive most likely._

_"Come on!" He grabbed her hand and started dragging her to the elevators that went to the rooms._

_She walked with him, "Hold on kitten, I don't even know your name."_

_"I'm Nico!" He announced._

_She nodded, "Pleasure to meet you Nico, I'm Maisie."_

_"You look like a sunflower, it's aces," He remarked._

_Maisie laughed at the randomness of it._

_She was definitely going to get along great with this kid._

_He was like the sibling she had always wanted._

_Now to figure out how to take him with her when she left this place._

_That might be a struggle._

_But she had plenty of time to figure it out, after all, a month doesn't go by that fast._

_Even if it feels like it does._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave a comment with some of your theories/predictions of how this story will go  
> I love interacting with y'all  
> also, if you write pjo fanfic please drop a comment and I'll check it out


	5. 4

Unsurprisingly, the inside was filled with their classmates, all of them acting chaotic. 

This would be annoying to deal with. 

Not to mention the walls seemed to get smaller and smaller the longer she was inside. Ever since the Hotel Lotus, walls seemed to close in on her more often than not. 

Most likely due to that was the longest time she had spent inside without seeing the sun, also the fact that it seemed ever longer than it actually was. 

It was only a month. 

A few days over a month.

Which was why she had decided to leave. She had promised a month and stayed a month but time seemed to go by much slower there. 

A month dragged on for more than thirty one days. 

Way more. 

It was hard being inside. But the choice was being outside in the snow and making Bianca upset or being inside and being upset herself. 

Bianca came first. She always did. 

That was just how friendships worked. She was utterly and completely devoted to making Bianca happy at the risk of her own happiness and that was friendship. That was normal because Bianca's smile had a hypnotic effect where it would make butterflies swirl around in Maisie's stomach and her heart race and this feeling that felt the way the sun looked bubble up inside her. So naturally, she would try and make her happy at all costs. Normal friendship. 

So inside it was. 

At least, there was the dance that could be a possibility. 

Dancing with Bianca would be lovely. 

Swaying together, holding each other tight never to let go, that would be rather nice. 

Girls could dance together, friends could dance together. 

Nico grabbed her hand, pulling her along, "Come on! We can play in the bleachers."

She just let herself be dragged along, grabbing Bianca's hand so that they were all together.

As they should be. Over a short time of knowing each other, she had decided never to leave the Di Angelos, she was their problem now.

If Lou came back, then Lou came back, but she had a sinking suspicion that Lou wasn't coming back.

Ever. 

Monsters were rough when you were on your own, which was why she vowed never to leave Bianca's side, who would never leave Nico's side.

The Di Angelos might know how to play Mythomagic, but they had never killed a monster. And hopefully, they would never have to. 

Sure monsters didn't count as people so it wasn't a sin to kill them, but it was hard looking them in the eye sometimes and then turning them to dust. It made her feel bad sometimes, not that she had fought any monsters in a long time. She didn't want them to ever feel bad, to ever have to interact with the creatures that tried to kill her and Lou. 

Which was slightly problematic, given the fact that she could feel a monster nearby and had for a while at this school. 

Or perhaps, the real monsters were just the teenagers and kids at a military school. 

That was also a likely possibility. 

"Mai, you're not even paying attention," Nico whined. 

Maisie blinked. 

She had forgotten that she was talking to him, or more accurately, he was talking to her. 

Bianca rolled her eyes, "Put away the cards, we're at a nice event. Go dance with someone." 

"This isn't nice," Nico crossed his arms at the same time that Maisie spoke. 

"Bi, will you dance with me?" Maisie asked, tilting her head slightly. 

Bianca shook her head, "Girls can't dance with girls, silly." 

"They can though," Maisie pointed out. 

Bianca shrugged, a small frown coming onto her face, "I don't see any girls dancing with girls, boys are supposed to dance with girls."

"You don't want to dance with me?" Maisie asked again, hoping that the answer would change. 

Bianca shook her head again, "No. Nico could dance with you though." 

Nico made a face that summed up what Maisie thought of that idea.

Meanwhile, Maisie's face fell. 

Bianca didn't want to dance. She had made Bianca upset by asking. 

But maybe, Bianca just had to see a different girl dancing with a girl. 

Maybe if she saw that, she would change her mind. She would be happy and dance with Maisie and be close with her again. 

"I'm going to ask another girl to dance," Maisie remarked, before leaving the Di Angelos to bicker among themselves. 

She glanced on the dance floor, not seeing a lot of girls that wouldn't immediately dismiss her idea.

Then, she caught sight of something. 

A familiar pair of grey eyes. 

She had seen that girl before. 

Not at the school, no that girl wasn't one of the students. 

And next to the girl was a guy she definitely recognized. 

Those two had come into the Lotus Hotel during one of the last days she spent there. 

The girl had immediately taken a liking to the architecture games and the guy seemed on edge with it. She remembered them, not very clearly but she remembered them. 

Which was weird because they didn't go to this school.

The grey eyed girl would be the perfect one to dance with then. 

She walked over to the two just standing there, "Can I dance with you?" 

A moment of silence as the two turned to them. 

"Well, seaweed brain, what's your answer?" The girl smirked. 

The boy was scrambling to say something. 

Maisie cut him off, "Oh actually, I was asking you." 

"Huh," the girl paused, obviously not expecting that. 

The boy smirked, "Well, wise girl, what's your answer?"

The nicknames were interesting, Maisie wondered what they meant. 

Wise girl was obviously referring to intelligence. 

She didn't understand if seaweed meant a lack of intelligence or just that he liked eating seaweed.

Which she had found out recently was an actual food a person could buy and eat. 

"Sure I'll dance with you," the girl responding, punching the boy in the gut before turning to me. 

The boy groaned, "What was that for?"

"You know." 

Maisie offered a hand to the girl, wrapping the other one around her waist like was traditional. 

They danced for a bit, travelling away from the boy who was just appearing lost there. 

"I'm Maisie by the way," she offered. 

The girl responded, "Annabeth." 

"Pretty name," Maisie offered a smile, "You don't go here."

Annabeth snapped her fingers, "Oh, I actually do, you just haven't seen me around. Different class rotation and such."

"No? You don't go here. I have met you before though," Maisie just stared at her, a little confused how snapping would convince anyone. 

Annabeth raised an eyebrow, "Have you?"

Interesting. 

The girl was acting very suspicious and was also at the Hotel Lotus which was a suspicious place. 

Which meant there could be a strong possibility Annabeth would try to hurt her tonight. 

"Yup," Maisie tilted her head slightly, "Are you a monster?"

Annabeth's voice lowered, "You know about monsters?"

"I do. There's a monster presence here tonight and I won't let you near my friends if you are one," Maisie's expression changed from the looking at someone attractive to the monster hunting one that she had stolen straight from Lou.

Annabeth shook her head, "I'm not a monster. I'm trying to protect people like you and your friends." 

"You know my friends?" Maisie raised an eyebrow in suspicion. 

Lou hadn't told her of any protectors. 

There was monsters and monster hunters, she had never heard of monster hunter protectors. 

"The Di Angelos, right?" Annabeth froze, "They're gone." 

Maisie followed her gaze.

The bleachers were empty, instead of her friends were a couple Mythomagic cards and a green hat. 

Nico would never abandon his cards, and Bianca loved to hide behind her hat. 

Which meant something was up. 

Annabeth was a distraction, there was another monster to fight. 

And Maisie had failed in protecting her family when they needed her. 

This middle school dance was not shaping up to be a good time. 

Not at all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please leave a comment, I thrive off of them

**Author's Note:**

> hello and welcome  
> this is my fic  
> I am gay, I am depressed, I am reading PJO again because of the d*sney + announcement.   
> This is all you need to know.


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